Hello Camera Labs, i really need help on my D40, everytime i take a picture on Shutter Priority mode,Aperture Priority mode, and Manual Mode the picture ends up dark can you help me please just tell me how to make the picture brighter, one more question, is it possible to change the Shutter Speed on the Program Mode?

But in earnest: With ISO 800, F4.8 you should at least have some detail on the pic even with 1/4000 sec shutter speed. With your priority set to this shutter timing, the cam tries everything to capture enough light i.e. open the aperture to the max and rise the ISO, BUT it will not choose a slower shutter!

If the scene you were trying to capture was quite dark, then the D40 could do nothing to capture a sensible pic. I just tried the same combination inside my room with daylight but no direct sun. The pic turned out to be VERY dark.

So I suggest:
1. Try "shutter priority" with a longer exposure time say 1/125 or 1/60 sec.
2. Watch the display, what aperture the camera chooses to match your shutter speed. If this is wide open (say around F4) choose an even longer exposure time, until the aperture goes to F5,6 or higher
3. If you try other modes than automatic, just stick first with one (like shutter prio) and try to get acquainted with it.

If (1) and (2) don't help with a normal daylight scene, I would suppose, that there is something seriously misadjusted with your cam

As to your question with regard to program mode, I assume this can be done, but the controls on the D40 are other than in the D80, so I can't tell.
Gordon, can you help here?

I took of the Lens cap, i have a another question, iam mostly take pictures of Aircraft i love aviation, and i bought a new lens for my D40, and the lens is a 70-300mm only manual focus, will it be easy to take pictures of fast planes on manual focus?

If it was not a zoom, I'd say you can focus manually fast enough for the planes. Normally passenger airplanes are not that fast changing their distance. That would certainly be different at an airshow.
but if you also have to adjust the zoom, to catch the best pic, it would certainly require some good dexterity to adjeust both controls to get a good shot...[/b]
Are you working from a tripod?

Kriss, 1/4000 is a very fast shutter speed and you'll need lots of light to use it even at higher sensitivities.

As Thomas says, start with a shutter speed of, say, 1/100 in shutter priority and see what aperture the camera suggests to match it. As you increase the shutter spee, you'll see the aperture f number get smaller and smaller until it cannot get any smaller. At that point, that's the fastest shutter speed you can use for yuor current lighting and ISO. If you still want a faster shutter speed, try increasing the ISO further.

But once the f-number is as small as it will go, if you increase the shutter speed further, you'll start to underexpose until you eventually get nothing at all.

In Program mode, you should be able to adjust the shutter speed by turning the thumb wheel on the back. The camera also shouldn't let you under or over expose in this mode.

As for your lens, did you not get the AF-S version? If not, it will be manual focus only on your camera, and it will be tricky to photograph moving subjects when zoomed-in. Not impossible, but tricky! If you always take a photo of the plane in the same place in the sky, you could pre-focus on that area and only take the photo when the plane gets to that point.

If it's a much older lens, there may be further incompatibilities with your D40 which might be causing problems with your exposure modes. I'm not familiar with your particular lens, but if it has an aperture ring, you may need to set it to an 'auto' mark after the biggest f number. or maybe actually on the biggest f-number. Check your manual to see.

I've seen your new pic. It seems to be an indoors shot with little light on the Kiss-poster. Pic still looks 2 stops underexposed. Would be interesting what the ISO and aperture values are for this pic! Could you please post them!
Did you try even 1/30 sec?

If the shop doesn't believe you, here's a link to the same lens on the Nikon USA website.

Now I haven't personally tried this lens on the D40, but it does have AF-S and according to Nikon, this is what the D40 needs for auto-focusing.

The new AF-S 55-200mm will also work with your D40 and is cheaper, although it doesn't magnify as much as the 70-300mm, and I don't think the quality will be quite as good. But at $249, it really is a bargain.

If you go for the 55-200mm though, make sure you're buying the latest version with VR as they did an older one without VR.

If the shop lets you change the lens, I'd advise doing so, as you really will find autofocus very useful to have!

You are also now in the ideal position to judge if the 55-200mm will magnify enough for your kind of photos. Did you find yourself always zooming-into 300mm with your 70-300 lens? If so, then you should go for another 70-300mm. If you found the 300mm was too magnified though, then the 55-200mm should be fine!

Hi Kriss, yes, there are several older versions of the 70-300mm which don't have VR. I wouldn't recommend them for you though becuase as far as I understand, the latest VR version is also the only version with AF-S - and hence is the only one which will autofocus with your D40.